UALE is happy to share papers and presentations made at our conferences for the benefit of labor educators everywhere. See separate page "Papers and Presentations" for downloads. More will be added as it becomes available.

If you presented a paper, a workshop design, a PowerPoint or other presentation, and are willing to share it, please send it in to the Website Moderator.

Unless otherwise noted on the document itself or elsewhere, documents downloaded from this site may be copied, modified as needed, and used for purposes of labor education, as long as the authors are credited. These documents, or products derived from them, may not be sold or used for commercial purposes.

The Executive Board of the UALE has established five awards for outstanding contributions and achievement in the field of labor education. These awards were presented at the closing luncheon of the 2013 UALE Conference in Toronto.

The winners this year were:

Outstanding contribution to the field: The Labor Education Program of the School of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois for its work with the Chicago Teachers Union. Director Robert Bruno and Steve Ashby were singled out for special recognition.

Best book: Guest Workers and Resistance to U.S. Corporate Despotism by Immanuel Ness

Lifetime Achievement Award: D'Arcy Martin

New GenerationAward: Stephen Lockie(IBEW Local 570/NLC) for his paper on Organizing the Electrical Construction Industry of the 21st Century

Best article in LSJ: Leah L. Carmichael and Andrew Herod for their article: “Dockers and Seafarers: What the Politics of Spatial Embeddedness and Geographical Scale Have Meant for Union Organizing in the European Maritime Trades.”

1. Outstanding contribution to the field of Labor Education in 2012.This award recognizes an outstanding example of the connection between labor education and activism: a new curriculum, a documentary or social media project, a living history/labor theater initiative, an outstanding campaign on an issue, or an exemplary effort to use labor education to strengthen the labor movement. The contribution can involve a formal institution of labor education—university, union, or community-based; it can represent an independent effort outside an institutional labor education program; it can be an ongoing program, multi-year effort, or one that has ended. Some aspect of the program must have occurred within the calendar year 2012. Nominees may be an individual, a group, a program, or a project.

2. Best Published Book 2011-2012 related to Labor Education. This award is for a book that has been especially valuable in labor education. It should be a book that represents responsible scholarship, new ideas, creative thinking, an intellectual contribution to the labor movement, the broader workers’ movement, labor economics or politics, culture, or any other topic related to work or labor. It should be a book that can be or is used in an educational setting.

3. Lifetime Achievement AwardThis award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of labor education over the course of his or her lifetime.

4. New Generation Award (best student paper presentation). This award will be given for the best paper presentation at the 2013 UALE conference by a new or aspiring student, labor educator or researcher. A selection committee appointed by the Board chooses the four best submissions, schedules them together for a panel session at the conference, billed as the New Generation panel. The selection committee will attend that session and choose the winner of the award based on the quality of the submitted paper as well as the presentation of the ideas on the panel.

5. Best article in Labor Studies Journal.The recipient of this award will be determined by the LSJ editorial board.

– Tommy Douglas, founder of Canada’s New Democratic Party and father of Canadian Medicare.

In a world which sometimes divides us, the world of work affects us all. It is a world in which working people face trying economic times, inequitable labor policies, and systemic attacks on workers and their human rights. Dedicated to progress, growth, and hope for the labor movement, the United Association for Labor Education (UALE) invites labor educators and those who value labor education to look beyond the boundaries we may perceive and come together in Toronto, Ontario Canada for a conference that values workers and worker education.

For further information about the conference, contact Tony Michael at .

Pre-Conference Activities: On the Street at UALE 2013

This year’s conference included three opportunities to explore Toronto on foot, as an integral part of the program. Information on walk details, and the Walking Tour Design Team and Tour Leaders, can be downloaded here:document
On the Street at UALE 2013 rev 3-27
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On the Street I: “Old Town” Labour Tour with lunch pitside the hotel. Note: This tour is already at capacity of 35 people for the lunch. Others are welcome to join for the walk for free, but will need to arrange their own lunch elsewhere. Meet in hotel lobby.

12:00 PM – 1:45 PM

Registration continues, outside the Mandarin Ballroom

Lunch buffet, upper Mezzanine level, included free for those staying in the hotel

This year, our conference was enlivened by some great art. We were proud to be able to highlight the work of a number of fine labo(u)r and progressive artists. The conference will include 5 live performances and the five visual arts exhibits, as well as films and digital storytelling. Details are on a separate page "Arts at UALE"